TE865, Summer 2019, Katie Spalding

                As I read through the pages of The Social Studies Wars by Ronald W. Evans, I wasn’t surprised to hear of the many ways in which social studies education has been crafted, changed, and emphasized in such differing ways throughout time.   It is clear to me now that most everyone has some type of agenda, laden with items they would love to place on a highlight reel for others to absorb and accept as noteworthy truths, and that social studies education continuously remains a battleground for these opposing agendas and ideals.   A major takeaway, then, is that the label of   “social studies” truly encompasses such a large territory, yet all of this terrain (comprised of areas such as American history, world history, economics, civics/good citizenship, geography) stems back to some form of our need to shape human interaction for “the better.”   The problem, however, is the varying d...

                 As I explored this unit’s readings, I couldn’t help but feel inspired, confused, enlightened, unaware, encouraged, grateful, and devastated all at the same time.   These feelings started with James Baldwin’s Letter from a Region in My Mind in which I was called to consider a person’s perspective and state of consciousness when it comes to issues of race, but also those underlying issues of religion, love, and what it means to be “a good citizen”…and really even on a much larger, more important scale, to be a good human…or to even act humanely as a starting point.   I have always felt a certain tugging at my insides when I have been asked to dive into racial relations, slavery, the horrible things that have happened between white and black, past and present, my ancestors, his ancestors, her ancestors,   and he and she and I presently.   I have grappled with these thought...

               I have to start by admitting that social studies has never been my strong point.  In fact, that is exactly why I chose to take the course.  As I browsed through course offerings, I realized that I need to focus my time and energy on improving this area of my teaching and life, rather than shying away from a course that might provide so much growth for me both professionally and personally.   So often I have all of these deep feelings regarding politics, social studies, what it means to be a “good citizen”…such emotion regarding some of the prevalent issues in our country right now…but I feel as though I don’t always have knowledge of the hard facts, the theories, the names that have been so influential in driving our democracy forward, to really speak my mind in a way that is educated, makes sense, and can make anyone truly buy in to my ideas/arguments.   So, in a way, you might say that it was quite meaningfu...